HTC were the first of many to come out with a 5-inch 1080p smartphone, and now it looks like they’ll once again be the first to achieve an even more impressive milestone – to release a phone with a 4.7-inch 1080p smartphone. It’s called the HTC M7, and according to recent leaks it looks likely to launch at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month.

Let’s have a look at what’s been discovered so far. First of all, we’ve got a pretty good idea of the overall look and feel of the device, thanks to a full image that leaked last week as well as a video of the front and rear chassis of the phone – sans any interesting internal components – courtesy of ETrade Supply.

The video makes it quite clear that HTC are abandoning the design language they introduced last year with the One Series, in favour of a more angular style that we saw in their 5-inch 1080p smartphone late last year, the Droid DNA aka Butterfly. It’s a surprising development, given how adored the One series’ styling was, but I suppose progression along a design front is key.

So we’ve got a rather angular look and feel that’s similar to what we’ve seen most recently from HTC, but on a smaller device. That smaller screen should make it easier to hit the lock button at the top of the phone (which was a bit of a stretch on the Droid DNA). There’s also a new button – a dedicated camera button! That’s always a favourite with photographic enthusiasts, and hopefully indicates that we will see at least a 13 megapixel sensor here and performance to match.

We also know roughly what’ll be inside the phone. We’re expecting a faster 1.7 GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro, 2 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal storage with micro SD support. Again, all good and proper. On the software side of things, we’re expecting a less colour Sense 5.0 skin, offering a complementary design to the phone’s monolithic look.

The M7 looks promising for HTC. The beleaguered Taiwanese company desperately needs a hero phone to sell well, and the M7 is their best attempt. With a well reviewed and best selling sim-free HTC phone, the rest of their business could also see an upturn thanks to the ‘halo effect’ that’s been so well employed by Apple. Will that happen? I guess we’ll have to wait until the release of the phone to really tell, but I am hopeful.

What do you think – will the M7 be HTC’s salvation? Let me know in the comments below.

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That’s what they said about the HTC One line. The M7 isn’t anything impressive when you compare it to the Optimus G Pro which also now has SD card (compared to non Pro version) not to mention all the other 1080p devices coming out.

Being first to market with new tech hasn’t been good for companies.

LG 2X = First dual core and one of the worst devices ever.

HTC Rezound = First to market with 720p screen, Haven’t heard much about it since nor updates

HTC One X = First to market with quad core , Didn’t sell too well

HTC M7 = First 1080p GSM phone maybe? That if it beats the LG Optimus G Pro to market.